​I must admit to being a bit surprised that it seems that no professional reviewers, or even UFO enthusiasts, have reviewed Peter Levenda’s new book, Sekret Machines: Gods. I had expected to see at least some reviews outside of Amazon.com customer reviews, especially since this wasn’t just a self-published vanity project but had secured distribution through Simon & Schuster’s network. As best I can tell, however, credited author Tom DeLonge’s company, To the Stars, Inc., did only puff-piece publicity for the book, which he tied in with the near simultaneous paperback release of his novel Chasing Shadows from last year. This pulled the focus from the new release to DeLonge’s personality and business instead. While I didn’t expect him to send me a review copy, I didn’t hear from anyone working in media that they had received one, either. No wonder it landed with such a resounding thud. As of this writing, a Google search for the book plus the word “review” brings up just my review and sales pages. No wonder Levenda was upset with me.

​But it did make me wonder a bit, so I looked into some of the publicity interviews DeLonge did over the past few weeks, and I found one from the San Diego Union-Tribune that was particularly revealing. Take a look at what he said. The ellipses and parentheses are in the original:

“So, in order to have a conversation about how this one subject matter — UFOs — has affected all the branches of the truth, we have to start with the ideas of ancient gods and the mythologies they represent that maybe weren’t mythologies. And then we have to look at how man has been dealing with this, since at least World War II. … I want people to have facts. Doing fiction and non-fiction books is the best of both worlds…

“This isn’t about landings, or abductions, or seeing something in the sky — there are thousands of books that do that. This is about how we come to grips with it and where we’re going in the future, and understanding it and pushing back, for the first time in human history. That doesn’t make too much sense here (and now), but it would, if we go a few years down the road and see the feature film and the documentary.”

​As regular readers know, I don’t accept the assumption that UFOs represent a single phenomenon, or that they affect “all the branches of the truth.” That’s an assumption, and one that needs to be proved rather than assumed. But I am interested in DeLonge’s second paragraph, where he all but admits that his book and video series is intended to dribble out the so-called “truth” little by little to keep customers buying without actually providing the revelations initially promised. Remember when Sekret Machines was going to blow the lid off UFOs? Somehow the goal posts have moved, and now it’s a thought experiment about how humanity should deal with aliens. What a letdown!

In his interview with the Union-Tribune, DeLonge teased an upcoming “announcement” that would change everything … unless it won’t. DeLonge said the announcement wouldn’t say anything specific, but that we would need to “read between the lines.” In other words, it’s more smoke and mirrors. But it’s just what we would expect from a man who describes himself as having “a strong sense of business.” Those are his own words. He added that “I don’t want to talk about it” when asked to elaborate, but he did promise “years” of slow-drip publicity stunts teasing a revelation that will never come.

All of this has caught the attention of ufologists, even if they haven’t been quick to review his book, and there have been rather large number of ufologists alleging that DeLonge (who once mistook a scene from a Spielberg TV miniseries for leaked government UFO footage) is a dupe under the spell of a government-run disinformation campaign, or is even an active disinformation agent himself. The High Strangeness Show, for example, said this week of DeLonge and Levenda that “Their military-industrial and intelligence community sources are attempting to sell the national security state to a new generation and control the UFO narrative to the masses.”

Here’s where I think I differ from some of the ufologists who are upset with DeLonge. I don’t think that the U.S. government purposely developed a UFO phenomenon as part of a vast campaign of deception. I’ve read the same government documents as the ufologists, and they seem to support a less purposeful reading. The available documentation suggests that the UFO “phenomenon” emerged as a result of science fiction readers and writers, notably Ray Palmer, imposing a narrative on a series of disparate events that only gradually solidified into the “UFO” phenomenon. The first “UFOs” after all were tiny little things before they became giant ships. (The description of the Roswell weather balloon as a flying “disc” was just one of many tiny flying discs reported in the 1940s.) The government seems to have taken advantage of the developing story rather than having created it, using it as cover for covert spying operations and aircraft testing. The government seems more an accidental participant than the prime mover, and perhaps that is the “secret” that nobody has an interest in letting us know.

Speaking of the early develop of the UFO myth, did you see the blog post recently that reveals that Kenneth Arnold used to hand out cards with a quote from Oahspe on in? Of course where Arnold got the quote from is obvious, Ray Palmer published versions of Oahspe, seemed to be a big fan). I just find it funny that the original space-age myth can't help but be tinged with Victorian myth.

Fascinating. It only confirms that Ray Palmer is pretty much the creator of UFOs, and we should all blame him for this mess.

I'd love the see more of the correspondence between Palmer and Arnold than what exists in the FBI files. I imagine there must be some revealing material in there.

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Americanegro

3/20/2017 06:52:36 pm

Palmer's illustration of a "flying saucer" looks suspiciously like a Flying Wing, something unusual but not unknown in his day.

Americanegro

3/20/2017 07:01:17 pm

Sorry, should have said "Arnold's".

Only Me

3/19/2017 12:56:00 pm

Well, I'll give DeLonge credit for basically admitting his project is all about the revenue and not much else.

That's why Levenda's upset. DeLonge is the businessman, Levenda is the spokesman and the so-called "truth" they're both trying to sell is just a compilation of claims made by others. Your review, as the only one available right now, exposes the venture as unnoteworthy and derivative.

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Americanegro

3/19/2017 03:10:37 pm

If he can't get a book reviewed how can he get a "feature film" made? I don't see how any of this is a money making venture. Sounds like just two lunatics.

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A Buddhist

3/19/2017 04:36:04 pm

You assume that the profitability of a publication depends upon its profile as subject of many reviews. But this need not be so. It may be that the book will sell many copies despite not having many reviews. Or it may not.

If the scenario of a book being a best seller without many reviews seems implausible, consider the Captain Marvel Comic Books from the 1040s. They were best-sellers by any measure, selling up to 500,000 copies per issue, yet they received very little critical attention since they were seen as too lowbrow. What critical attention they received, then and now, has focused upon their flaws, including being derivative of Superman. Yet they were such commercial successes that they spawned the first superhero film, 1941's Adventures of Captain Marvel.

So De Long is not speaking nonsense about getting a feature film done based upon a book with few reviews. Certainly, it may be difficult for him to have his books become such successes, but they might be. Indeed, if all reviews are as critical as Jason's is, it might be better for the books' commercial viability if they receive few reviews.

Professional book reviews are certainly no longer the cornerstone of a marketing plan, especially since user reviews on shopping sites have essentially taken their place. The important thing for sales is to get a title's name in front of the target audience. DeLonge can do that by marketing to his fans, regardless of what publications that they will never read say or do not say. Consider, for example, conservative bestsellers by radio and TV personalities. Almost no mainstream media review the endless parade of tomes, but through direct marketing (and some shady book club deals) they each become bestsellers anyway because they become talismans of political identity and tickets to being members of the in-group in certain social circles.

A Buddhist

3/19/2017 05:46:49 pm

Captain Marvel Comic Books from the 1040s

should be

Captain Marvel Comic Books from the 1940s

Jason: DeLonge's fanbase and Lavenda's savviness as a marketer could make this book a better seller than your average UFO Book. Whitley Strieber was a best-selling horror and science fiction novelist, and he was able to turn that high profile and skill as a writer into a way to make his allegedly factual accounts of encounters with aliens into best-sellers. And some of his writing about aliens were turned into a movie, Communion (1989). So DeLonge may be talking realistically when he talks about a feature film adaptation.

Americanegro

3/19/2017 06:12:45 pm

"Whitley Strieber was a best-selling horror and science fiction novelist, and he was able to turn that high profile and skill as a writer into a way to make his allegedly factual accounts of encounters with aliens into best-sellers. And some of his writing about aliens were turned into a movie, Communion (1989). So DeLonge may be talking realistically when he talks about a feature film adaptation."

The recombinant version:

"Delonge was a nobody who couldn't even get his friends to post reviews on Amazon, and he was able to turn that failure and ejaculation of nonsense into a way to make his insane ramblings into best-sellers. [snip stuff that's never going to happen] So DeLonge may be talking realistically when he talks about a feature film adaptation."

First someone has to buy rights to the book and adapt it, or it could be his own project. Unless he can finance it himself, he'll need financing and that's where your scenario falls apart. Ain't nobody gonna pay for that, Jesus!

The key phrase: "Whitley Strieber was a best-selling horror and science fiction novelist". Do you see the difference? I'll spell it out for you: DeLonge is a raving lunatic nobody.

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A Buddhist

3/19/2017 07:39:06 pm

DeLonge's mental state is irrelevant to his conclusions. Furthermore, DeLonge is not working alone in this enterprise; Levanda is working with him.

I am not saying that it is likely that their work will be turned into a feature film; my point is rather that his speculation is not as far fetched as you may think. Extremely unlikely? Yes. But not impossible.

Consider, as an example, the movie Battlefield Earth. It was based upon a terrible novel written by a bad author, and the movie was also bad. Yet that movie was made because it had influential supporters (notably Tom Cruise, who loved the novel).

Consider also the TV movie "In Search of Ancient Astronauts", which arose after Rod Serling became fascinated by a book written by a Swiss hotelier.

Therefore, considering these past media adaptations of science fiction/alien books into movies, it is not impossible that some person with connections to media could become fascinated by this book, either because of its connection to Levanda/DeLonge, or because of its commercially useful connection to the conspiracy/Ancient Aliens audience, or because he or she finds it convincing, and turns it into a movie. Extremely unlikely? Yes. But not impossible.

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Americanegro

3/19/2017 08:26:34 pm

"Consider, as an example, the movie Battlefield Earth. It was based upon a terrible novel written by a bad author, and the movie was also bad. Yet that movie was made because it had influential supporters (notably Tom Cruise, who loved the novel)."

Tom "Shortstuff" Cruise can love a book all day long but what you miss (how one tires of saying that) is the prime mover:

F - I - N - A - N - C - I - N - G

Kill Teach Mode.
Start Learn Mode.

Woody Allen gets his financing from Europe.
Mel Gibson finances his own movies.

F - I - N - A - N - C - I - N - G

A Buddhist

3/19/2017 08:49:50 pm

How was I not mentioning F - I - N - A - N - C - I - N - G?

I wrote:
"some person with connections to media could become fascinated by this book"

I will break that down for you:

some person = a person with access to MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
with connections = access to MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
to media = media with MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
could become fascinated = willing to assemble MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
by this book = willing to spend MONEY FOR A MOVIE on this book.

This scenario is not likely, I think, but it is not impossible.

I already taught you something today, namely:

access to book reviewers =/= commercial success.

This simplifies a more complex situation, in which access to book reviewers may help or hinder commercial success of different books.

Americanegro

3/20/2017 06:55:39 am

"some person = a person with access to MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
with connections = access to MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
to media = media with MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
could become fascinated = willing to assemble MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
by this book = willing to spend MONEY FOR A MOVIE on this book."

Wow.

You = a person with access to MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
certainly = willing to assemble MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
took = willing to assemble MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
me = access to MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
to = media with MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
school = willing to spend MONEY FOR A MOVIE on this book.

So if I understand you correctly, you have hit upon a magic formula, and that formula is that someone with money can spend it.

STOP TRYING TO TEACH ME. THIS IS YOUR BUDDHA SPEAKING.

David Bradbury

3/20/2017 09:54:34 am

Palm Tree Film would love to make such a movie, I suspect. They always seem to be able to make films, with some very creative financing:
http://www.palmtreefilm.com/

At Risk

3/20/2017 11:07:56 am

Thanks A BUDDHIST for your simplified formula, which points the way to a possible success story:

some person = a person with access to MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
with connections = access to MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
to media = media with MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
could become fascinated = willing to assemble MONEY FOR A MOVIE.
by this book = willing to spend MONEY FOR A MOVIE on this book."

So, someone with money buys a book, a good story, in order to obtain the movie rights? Except that a short-cut can be made, which is when an author owns rights to both the book and a future movie...in which case the author may sell the movie rights to the book. The screen writers then take over, sometimes with the collaboration of the author.

I am the author of a teen fantasy-adventure novel that I may now consider moving forward with, using this formula and the advice from DAVID, also. I appreciate all the help in bringing this together in my mind here on this blog today.

Thanks, DAVID BRADBURY. Their approach is surprisingly open and friendly...very inticing. (From their website):

"The core strength of the company lies in its ability to find good stories."

And,

"Palm Tree Open Source is an opportunity for us to work with others. We want to find new collaborators - actors, directors, producers, distributors, financiers - in fact anyone who is interested in the stories we want to tell. We also want our collaborators to bring their experience and ideas to us so we can work together on making better films, to get our films seen by a wider audience, to have an impact on day to day cultural life.

How do we do that? That is what we want to find out. The principal is simple - we make available what we have in an open way - and in return we hope that this openness will unlock doors, or at least help us to jump over some of the hurdles that seem to be in the way. These hurdles are not huge, they are just brick walls that we don’t know how to climb over. We need passionate and knowledgeable people to show us how to go round these obstacles, or remove them completely.

At Palm Tree we have a wealth of talent. However, to get the best from it, we need others to show us or suggest to us the way forward.

We hope you can find something in the Open Source that might inspire you to inspire us, and that you have the confidence to contact us with your proposals or suggestions.

The world is not our foe, time is. Time marches on. There are so many stories waiting to be told, and our enemy is time.

We look forward to your collaboration."

Wow, DAVID...this IS refreshing! Thanks again for sharing about it.

BigNick

3/19/2017 06:50:19 pm

"The High Strangeness Show, for example, said this week of DeLonge and Levenda that “Their military-industrial and intelligence community sources are attempting to sell the national security state to a new generation and control the UFO narrative to the masses.”

I'm sorry for going down a semantic side-line here, but the repeated use of "Mythology" in reference to UFOlogy is incorrect, I was brought up understanding that a "myth" was a commonly held belief in something that has no fact to back it up.

The important bit being commonly-held, I do not beleive that most people believe in UFOs [I mean, I live in Scotland it might be different elsewhere], I think most people just get on with life and never gives UFOs a thought.

In order to give substance to what I would call a myth- It is widely believed that the band on the Titanic played "Nearer, my God, to thee" as the ship went down, but fact shows that anyone within hearing range died that night, so no-one knows. This is a myth, UFOs are not.

That's a great question, John, and "myth" has two definitions. My dictionary gives your definition -- a widespread false belief -- as the second definition. The first one is the one I was referring to: "a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events." At this point, the false story of UFOs/aliens has become a myth in that sense. But in terms of widespread false beliefs, surveys here in the U.S. suggest that as many as 40% of Americans believe in UFOs and government conspiracies about them, so I think that would qualify, too!

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Americanegro

3/20/2017 07:01:16 am

What are the odds on the 700 or so Titanic survivors all being deaf? That's the real story.

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I'm an author and editor who has published on a range of topics, including archaeology, science, and horror fiction. There's more about me in the About Jason tab.